Page 84 of The Finding Series: Vol. 2

Griff and I had kissed like that.

It seemed like a lifetime ago.

“Hey,” Roman murmured against Hunter’s lips.

“Hey yourself.”

I busied myself with greeting the dogs as they surrounded me and began sniffing my legs. I cast a glance over my shoulder to see Beck watching us all nervously. The biggest dog, Champ, left me to go check Beck out and I bit back a smile when Beck visibly relaxed as the giant animal began nuzzling his hands.

God bless the power of animals.

“You must be Beck,” I heard Roman say and since my eyes were still on Beck, I saw all the tension and then some return the moment Roman said his name. Roman stepped between me and Brody to walk towards Beck and I didn’t miss the way the younger man’s back straightened and his hands fisted. It was the same reaction he’d had to Callan in the barn back at the ranch.

Was he actually afraid of men?

I thought on it and remembered how relaxed he’d seemed around Finn.

“Um, yeah,” Beck said. One of his hands actually closed around Champ’s collar as if he were trying to prevent the dog from leaving his side. He managed to shake Roman’s hand, but he dropped his eyes when he did it. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Roman seemed to notice Beck’s tension, because he stepped back as soon as he’d shaken Beck’s hand. “Beck, this is my husband, Hunter.”

Hunter wasn’t quite as tall or heavily built as his dark-haired husband and while they both were friendly and open, Hunter had a lightness to him that Roman couldn’t pull off. Whereas Roman was naturally assertive, the impression I’d always gotten of Hunter was that he was the more soft-hearted of the pair. I’d seen him volunteer at the ranch with some of the abused horses that came through and his kind-hearted nature made him a valuable asset for those animals that struggled to trust humans.

“Hi, Beck, welcome to Dare. We’ve been looking forward to meeting you,” Hunter said as he strode up to Beck and shook his hand. Beck seemed a little less tense as he thanked the man. With Roman he’d looked like he’d wanted to run away. With Hunter he was more wary than anything else.

I cast a glance at Brody to see if he’d noticed the behavior and I could see from the concern in his eyes that he had.

For whatever reason, Beck seemed to have an issue with more dominant, naturally confident men. If I hadn’t seen his reaction to Brody, I would have thought the physical aspect of the man being dark-haired to be a factor, but Brody was blond just like Hunter and Finn. The common denominator between me, Brody and the other men who seemed to make Beck more uncomfortable was that we were physically larger than him and had personalities that were assertive rather than submissive.

The idea that Beck had been hurt in the past by someone matching our characteristics was disturbing, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it because Roman turned to me and said, “Quinn, I’ve got that list of applicants in the office. Do you have time to go over the interview schedule with me?”

“Of course,” I said, though I didn’t really want to leave Beck alone since he was looking like he was going to fly off the handle at any moment.

“How about I show Beck and Brody around?” Hunter offered. “You haven’t seen the entire place yet, right, Brody?”

“No, I haven’t,” Brody said. “If it’s okay with Mr. Blackwell…Roman, I’d love to see it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Roman said. He looked over his shoulder at Beck. “You okay with that, Beck?”

Beck merely nodded, averting his eyes from Roman’s almost immediately. I saw a small frown creep over Roman’s mouth and he furrowed his brow before he shot me a questioning look. I suspected he’d be asking me about the young man’s behavior the second he got me alone.

“Okay, great,” Hunter said. “We can drive over to the lodge and grab a golf cart.”

Roman nodded and then took Hunter’s hand in his. They began walking towards the barn door as the passel of little dogs followed at their heels. Champ stayed with Beck even though he wasn’t clinging to the dog’s collar anymore. Beck finally pushed off the wall and moved past me and Brody. I gently grabbed his arm, ignoring his gasp as sparks flared between us. “Are you okay with this? I can come on the tour with you. Roman will understand.”

A part of me was worried Beck would be irritated by the question, but he shook his head and cast a quick glance at Brody. “I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

I nodded and released him.

Brody and I exchanged a silent, but very charged look between us and I knew we were thinking the same thing.

How the hell were we going to get through the next few weeks together?

ChapterSix

Brody

What were the fucking odds?

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